Chapter 2

Overview of Graphics Systems

Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.

Input devices
Hard-copy devices
Video display devices
Graphics workstations and viewing systems

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Input Devices
Input devices

Keyboards, button boxes, dials

Mouse devices
Trackballs and space balls
Joysticks
Data gloves
Digitizers
Image scanners
Touch panels
Light pens
Voice systems

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Input Devices
Keyboards, button boxes, dials
Standard keyboard
Alphanumeric
Function keys

Button box
set of input dials

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Input Devices
Mouse devices
Mechanical mouse
One-button
Rotating ball
Two perpendicular shafts to capture rotation

Optical mouse
Optical sensor
Laser
Grid to detect movement

Added widgets
Buttons
Trackball
Thumbwheel.
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Input Devices
Trackball
A ball device that can be rotated with the
fingers or palm of hand

Spaceball
Six degrees of freedom
Does not move, detects strain placed on the ball
by trying to move it.
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Input Devices
Joystick
A small, vertical lever mounted on a base
Movable joystick measures motion
Stationary (isometric) joystick measures strain.

Data glove

Used to grasp a virtual object

Measures hand and finger position
2D or 3D
Can also be used as input device to detect surface

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Input Devices
Digitizers
Used for drawing, painting, or selecting positions
Graphics tablet used to input 2D coordinates by activating a hand
cursor or stylus at given positions on a flat surface
Used to trace contours, select precise coordinate positions
Hand held cursor
Stylus
Electromagnetic
Grid of wires
Electromagnetic pulses send an electrical signal in stylus or
cursor
Acoustic
Sound waves to detect stylus position by microphones
Can be 3D
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Input Devices
Image scanners

Used to store images on a computer

Hand held
Flatbed
Drum.

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Input Devices
Light pens
Pen-shaped device to select screen positions by
detecting lights coming from points on the CRT
screen
Used to capture position of an object or select
menu options.

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Input Devices
Voice systems
Speech recognition systems to recognize voice
commands
Used to activate menu options or to enter data
Uses a dictionary from a particular user
(learning system).

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Hard-copy Devices
Hard-copy devices
Plotters
2D moving pen with stationary paper
1D pen and 1D moving paper

Printers
Impact devices
Inked ribbon

Non impact devices

Laser, ink-jet, xerographic, electrostatic, electrothermal.
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Video Display Devices

Cathode-ray tubes
Raster-scan displays
Random-scan displays
Color CRT displays

Flat-panel displays
Three-dimensional viewing devices
Stereoscopic and virtual-reality systems

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Cathode-ray tubes
Raster-scan displays
Random-scan displays
Color CRT displays
Direct View Storage Tubes

Cathode-Ray Tubes
Classical output device is a monitor.
Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)
Invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun (1897)

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Cathode-Ray Tubes

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Cathode-Ray Tubes

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Cathode-Ray Tubes
1. Working of CRT
Beam of electrons directed from cathode (-)to
phosphor-coated (fluorescent) screen (anode (+))
Directed by magnetic focusing and deflection coils
(anodes) in vacuum filled tube
Phosphor emits photon of light, when hit by an
electron, of varied persistence (long 15-20 ms for
texts / short < 1ms for animation)
Refresh rate (50-60 Hz / 72-76 Hz) to avoid flicker /
trail
Phosphors are organic compounds characterized by
their persistence and their color (blue, red, green).
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Cathode-Ray Tubes
Horizontal deflection and vertical deflection direct the
electron beam to any point on the screen
Intensity knob: regulates the flow of electrons by
controlling the voltage at the control grid (high voltage
reduces the electron density and thus brightness)
Accelerating voltage from positive coating inside screen
(anode screen) or an accelerating anode

2. Image maintenance
Charge distribution to store picture information OR
Refresh CRT: refreshes the display constantly to
maintain phosphor glow.

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Cathode-Ray Tubes
3. Focusing
Focusing forces the electron beam to converge to a
point on the monitor screen
Can be electrostatic (lens) or magnetic (field)

4. Deflection
Deflection directs the electron beam horizontally and/or
vertically to any point on the screen
Can be controlled by electric (deflection plates, slide 9)
or magnetic fields (deflection coils, slide 5)
Magnetic coils: two pairs (top/bottom, left/right) of tube
neck
Electric plates: two pairs (horizontal, vertical)
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Cathode-Ray Tubes
Characteristics of Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)
1.
2.

Intensity is proportional to the number of electrons

repelled in beam per second (brightness)
Resolution is the maximum number of points that can
be displayed without overlap; is expressed as number
of horizontal points by number of vertical points;
points are called pixels (picture elements); example:
resolution 1024 x 768 pixels. Typical resolution is
1280 x 1024 pixels.

High-definition systems: high resolution systems.

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Cathode-Ray Tubes
3. Persistence is defined as the time taken by the emitted
light to decay one tenth of its original intensity.

Max persistence 1 Sec, Min Persistence 10-60 sec

Higher persistence Low refresh rate complex images
Lower persistence High refresh rate Animations

4. Refresh Rate (Hz) number of times screen drawn or

refreshed per second.

Usually 60 Hz (Why)
Depends upon persistence

5. Pixel Picture Element

Mapping of phosphorus element to pixel

Bit for monochrome
Byte for 256 color levels
3 Bytes to produce more than 16.7 million colors

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Cathode-Ray Tubes
Aspect ratio
Aspect ratio is the ratio of vertical pixels to horizontal
pixels for an equal length line.
A square plotted with same number of pixels with
different aspect ratios will look as:

Ar = 1

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Cathode-Ray Tubes
It is also defined as the ratio of the vertical dimension over
the horizontal dimension. If and resolution of 640 x 480
pixels:
Horizontal 640/8 = 80 pixels / inch
Vertical

480/6 = 80 pixels / inch

Square pixels (no distortion).

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Cathode-ray tubes
Raster-scan displays
Random-scan displays
Color CRT displays
Direct View Storage Tubes

Raster-scan Displays
1. Introduction

Raster-scan display is the most common type of

monitor using a CRT.
A raster is a matrix of pixels covering the screen area
and is composed of raster lines.
The electron beam scans the screen from top to
bottom one row at a time. Each row is called a scan
line.
The electron beam is turned on and off to produce a
collection of dots painted one row at a time. These
will form the image.

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Raster-scan Displays

(from Donald Hearn and Pauline Baker)

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Raster-scan Displays
2. Refresh Procedure
Retracing
Horizontal retrace beam returns to left of screen
Vertical retrace bean returns to top left corner of screen

Interlacing
display first even-numbered lines, then odd-numbered lines
permits to see the image in half the time
useful for slow refresh rates (30 Hz shows as 60 Hz).

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Raster-scan Displays
Refresh rate
24 is a minimum to avoid flicker, corresponding to 24 Hz (1
Hz = 1 refresh per second)
Current raster-scan displays have a refresh rate of at least 60
frames (60 Hz) per second, up to 120 (120 Hz).

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Raster-scan Displays
3.1 Frame Buffer
Also called Refresh Buffer, contains picture definition
The image is stored in a frame buffer containing the total
screen area and where each memory location corresponds
to a pixel.
Consider it as 2-D memory array
E.g. Frame buffer
size 8x8
Color depth 8 (values 0-7)

Uses large memory:

640x480 307200 bits 38 kB
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Raster-scan Displays
Bitmap In a monochrome system, each bit is 1 or 0 for
the corresponding pixel to be on or off making frame a
bitmap.
The display processor scans the frame buffer to turn
electron beam on/off depending if the bit is 1 or 0.
Example Bitmap

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Raster-scan Displays
Pixmap for color monitors, the frame buffer also contains
the color of each pixel (color buffer) as well as other
characteristics of the image (gray scale, ).
Depth of the buffer area is the number of bits per pixel
(bit planes), up to 24. 8 bits/pixel 0..255
Examples: television panels, printers, PC monitors
8 level Pixmap

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Raster-scan Displays
3.2 Video Controller
Also called scan controller
display an image onto screen
Read the frame buffer and display on screen

Video Controller
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Raster-scan Displays
3.3 Display Processor
Relieves CPU from graphics chores
It digitize the picture definition in the application
program
It does SCAN CONVERSION
Define Graphic objects and characters to be displayed

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Cathode-ray tubes
Raster-scan displays
Random-scan displays
Color CRT displays
Direct View Storage Tubes

Random-scan Displays
1. Introduction
Random scan systems are also called
Vector Displays
stroke-writing, or
calligraphic displays.

The electron beam directly draws the picture in

any specified order.
A pen plotter is an example of such a system.

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Random-scan Displays
Picture is stored in a display list, refresh display
file, vector file, or display program as a set of line
drawing commands.
Refresh rate depends upon the size of the file.
Refreshes by scanning the list 30 to 60 times per
second.
More suited for line-drawing applications such as
architecture and manufacturing

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Random-scan Displays
2. Architecture of Random Scan System
Simple architecture

(from Donald Hearn and Pauline Baker)

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Raster vs. Random-scan Displays

RASTER
DISPLAY MECHANISM
DRAWING UNIT
IMAGE STORAGE
IMAGE TYPES
IMAGE QUALITY

REFRESHING
REFRESH RATE
ANIMATIONS
COLORS
COLOR TECHNIQUE
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RANDOM

E-beam traces entire screen from

upper left corner to bottom right

E-beam can highlight random

positions on the screen

Pixel

Line

Frame Buffer

Display File

Can display very complex images with Wire Frame modeling

greater accuracy
May be Jagged due to digitization
Diagonal Lines are produced with
lower intensity

Smooth lines as e-beam directly

follows the line path
Diagonal Lines are produced with
equal intensity

Entire Screen has to be refreshed

Only selected portions are redrawn

Maximum 80 Hz

Higher refresh rates.

Supported

Not supporting

Higher Color Depth

Lesser colors and shades

Shadow Masking

Beam Penetration

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Cathode-ray tubes
Raster-scan displays
Random-scan displays
Color CRT displays
Direct View Storage Tubes

Color CRT Monitor

1. Introduction
Uses different phosphors, a combination of
Red, Green, and Blue, to produce any color.
Two methods:
Beam penetration
Shadow Masking

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Color CRT Monitor

2. Beam Penetration Method
Random scan systems uses beam penetration.
2 layers (Red, Green) phosphors; low speed electrons
excite Red, high speed electrons excite Green.
Intermediate speed excite both to get yellow and
orange.
Color is controlled by electron beam voltage.
It is inexpensive
Only produces a restricted set of colors.
Quality of Picture is low
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Color CRT Monitor

3. Shadow Masking Method
Raster scan systems uses a shadow mask with three
electron guns: Red, Green, and Blue (RGB color
model).
Color is produced by adjusting the intensity level of
each electron beam.
Produces a wide range of colors, from 8 to several
millions.

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Color CRT Monitor

(Delta Delta Arrangement)

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Color CRT Monitor

R G B color

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000

black

001

blue

010

green

011

cyan

100

red

101

magenta

110

yellow

111

white
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Color CRT Monitor

Color CRTs are designed as RGB monitors also called
full-color system or true-color system.
Use shadow-mask methods with intensity from each
electron gun (red, green, blue) to produce any color
directly on the screen without preprocessing.
Frame buffer contains 24 bits per pixel, for 256 voltage
settings to adjust the intensity of each electron beam,
thus producing a choice of up to 17 million colors for
each pixel (2563).

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Flat Panel Displays

Flat Panel Displays

1. Introduction
Flat panel displays are video devices that are thinner,
lighter, and require less power than CRTs.
Examples: wall frames, pocket notepads, laptop
computer screens,

2. Types of Flat Panel Displays

Emissive panels convert electrical energy into light:
plasma panels, thin-film electroluminescent display
device, light-emitting diodes.
Non-emissive convert light into graphics using optical
effects:
liquid-crystal device (LCD).
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Flat Panel Displays

2.1 Plasma-panel display:

Horizontal
Anode (+ve)

Vertical
Cathode (-ve)

(from Donald Hearn and Pauline Baker)

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Flat Panel Displays

Components of Plasma-panel displays
Cathode Fine wires attached to glass plates deliver ve
voltage to gas cells on vertical axis
Fluorescent cells Small packets of gas liquid or solids
to emit light in excited state
Anode Fine wires attached to glass plates deliver +ve
voltage to gas cells on horizontal axis
Glass Plates to act as capacitors to maintain sustaining
voltage

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Flat Panel Displays

Working of Plasma-panel displays
An array of small fluorescent gas lights
Constructed by filling a mixture of gases (usually neon)
between two glass plates
vertical conducting ribbons are placed in one plate, and
horizontal conducting ribbons are placed in the other
plate
voltage is applied to the two ribbons to transform gas
into glowing plasma of electrons and ions.

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Flat Panel Displays

Advantages/Disadvantages:
No need of refreshing
Provides Fairly High resolution

The slimmest of all displays.

Weighs less and is less bulky than CTRs.
Higher viewing angles compared to other displays.
Can be placed even on walls.
High clarity and hence better color reproduction.
Has a life span of about 100,000 hours.

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Disadvantages of Plasma Display

Cost is much higher compared to other displays.
Energy consumption is more.
These displays are not available in smaller sizes than 32 inches.
Though the display doesnt weigh much, when the glass screen, which is needed to
protect the display, is included, weighs more.
Cannot be used in high altitudes. The pressure difference between the gas and the air
may cause a temporary damage or a buzzing noise.
Area flickering is possible.

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Flat Panel Displays

2.3 Light-emitting diode:
a matrix of diodes, one per pixel.
apply voltage stored in the refresh buffer.
convert voltage to produce light in the display.
Examples: digital watches, traffic signals, calculators,
automatic teller devices etc.

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Flat Panel Displays

2.4 Liquid-crystal displays (LCD):
LCD screens are often used in small devices such as
calculators and laptop monitors.
non-emissive types of displays
the picture produced by passing light from a light
source through liquid-crystal material
Liquid-crystal material contains crystals within a liquid
nematic (thread-like) liquid-crystals have rod shape that
can either align to with the light direction or not
when voltage is applied to conductors.
Liquid-crystal material can be programmed to either let
the light through or not
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Flat Panel Displays

(from Donald Hearn and Pauline Baker)

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Flat Panel Displays

Components of Liquid Crystal Displays
Glass Plates contains the liquid crystal and serve as
bonding surface for conductive coating.
Transparent Conductor To apply voltage to two
ribbons (across liquid crystals) to make plasma glow.
Liquid Crystals Substance that polarize light when
voltage is applied.
Two Polarized Films Transparent sheet that polarize
light.

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Flat Panel Displays

ON STATE when light is twisted
OFF STATE when block the light
Require little power to operate

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Advantages of an LCDs:
LCDs consumes less amount of power compared to CRT and LED
Provides excellent contrast
LCDs are of low cost(life time cost).
LCDs are thinner and lighter when compared to cathode ray tube
and LED
Energy efficient, low-power
Excellent contrast
Lightweight and compact
Low flicker rates
Screens are available in a vast range of sizes
Superior resolution

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Disadvantages of an LCDs:
Require additional light sources.
LCDs are expensive(buying cost)

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Applications of Liquid Crystal Display

Liquid crystal technology has major applications in the field of science
and engineering as well on electronic devices:
Liquid crystal thermometer
Optical imaging
The liquid crystal display technique is also applicable in visualization
of the radio frequency waves in the waveguide
Used in the medical applications

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